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1st out of 21 books
—
8 voters
Alphabetical Africa
by
Walter Abish
Chapter by chapter, Abish lets in one letter of the alphabet; then, one at a time, he takes them all away. From this premise arises a mysteriously absorbing narrative of African adventures.
Paperback, 152 pages
Published
May 1st 1974
by New Directions Publishing Corporation
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Abish adroitly actualizes Africa. Arts and ambiance. Ants, alligators and antelopes. And attractive Alva.
Brilliant, albeit a bit boring, alphabetical adventure amuses.
Cross continental chase after Alva carries author all around Africa. Characteristic African culture becomes apparent.
Demanding constraints delimit Africa's alphabetical boundaries.
Experimental aspects don't always dominate composition.
First few chapters are a bit constrained, as expected. Further chapters bring freedom and don't ap...more
Alphabetical Africa is one of the wittiest, most cleverly constructed novels I've ever read. Here's why: The first chapter, "A," only contains words that begin with the letter "a"; the second chapter, "B," only contains words beginning with either the letters "a" or "b"; and so on and so forth goes the rest of the novel, chapters C, D, E, F, G and on to chapter "Z". Then, the novel starts erasing itself, so to speak, as it retreats from chapter "Z" -- the only chapter in the book where Walter Ab...more
5 likes · like · see review
I suppose any review of this book has to explain the unusual form. I'll try to be brief: the first chapter is composed entirely with words that begin with the letter "a", the second with words beginning with either "a" or "b", and each successive chapter adds a letter until the 26th chapter (which can make use of words beginning with any letter) at which point the process reverses until we end back at "a".
Quite a few things surprised me about this book. First of all, I was surprised at how much...more
Quite a few things surprised me about this book. First of all, I was surprised at how much...more
9 likes · like · see review
I dreamt of this book last night, though I didn't dream of the plot. I dreamt of the structure. I found myself composing sentences in my sleep, and each word in the sentences began with an A, B, or a C.
In "Alphabetical Africa", each word in Chapter 1 begins with the letter A. In Chapter 2, every word begins with an A or a B. The vocabulary is expanded, letter by letter and chapter by chapter, through Z. Then, the process reverses, and the book works its way back through the alphabet, letter by l...more
In "Alphabetical Africa", each word in Chapter 1 begins with the letter A. In Chapter 2, every word begins with an A or a B. The vocabulary is expanded, letter by letter and chapter by chapter, through Z. Then, the process reverses, and the book works its way back through the alphabet, letter by l...more
I first heard of this book from The Art of Fiction by David Lodge. Under the section on "experimental novel" Lodge made mention of lipogram novels. Perec, of course, wrote something called La Disparition, a novel allergic to letter "e" in French. The English translation, A Void, was true to its linguistic esprit.
The American writer Walter Abish (b. 1931) does something similar in his first novel [Alphabetical Africa]. The rules of its construction are alphabetical. There are fifty-two chapters,...more
The American writer Walter Abish (b. 1931) does something similar in his first novel [Alphabetical Africa]. The rules of its construction are alphabetical. There are fifty-two chapters,...more
Jul 07, 2010
astried
marked it as want-want-want
A peek on first paragraph:
"Ages ago, Alex, Allen and Alva arrived at Antibes and Alva allowing all, allowing anyone, against Alex's admonition, against Allen's angry assertion: another African amusement...anyhow, as all argued, an awesome African army assembled and arduously advanced against an African anthill, assiduously annihilating ant after ant, and afterward, Alex astonishingly accuses Albert as also accepting Africa's antipodal ant annexation. Albert argumentatively answers at another apa...more
"Ages ago, Alex, Allen and Alva arrived at Antibes and Alva allowing all, allowing anyone, against Alex's admonition, against Allen's angry assertion: another African amusement...anyhow, as all argued, an awesome African army assembled and arduously advanced against an African anthill, assiduously annihilating ant after ant, and afterward, Alex astonishingly accuses Albert as also accepting Africa's antipodal ant annexation. Albert argumentatively answers at another apa...more
2 likes · like · see review
Walter Abish is not, and was never, a member of Oulipo, yet he has made his debut as a novelist with this very Oulipo-like work. But then it's not that they have monopoly over constrained writing.
At first I admired Abish's experimental prose. Writing a chapter only using A-words is not easy, and much less so when you try to write an interesting story under such a constraint. But after a while several shortcomings came up: First of all, there isn't much of a constraint after the chapter H or so....more
At first I admired Abish's experimental prose. Writing a chapter only using A-words is not easy, and much less so when you try to write an interesting story under such a constraint. But after a while several shortcomings came up: First of all, there isn't much of a constraint after the chapter H or so....more
I enjoyed this a great deal. It was funny, engaging, and interesting. The oulipian constraint gave the book an interesting narrative drive: as the letters disappeared, one knew the characters would disappear as well. Reaching P2, I knew that Queen Quat would be gone. At H2, the first-persona narrator would morph into the more abstract "author." In the end, there would be only Alex, Allen, and Alva.
It also worked well that Africa shrank with the vocabulary.
It also worked well that Africa shrank with the vocabulary.
I should add another shelf, "didn't really try hard enough." Abish's "How German iIs It" is one of my favorite novels of all time, but this one, for me, is too much of a gag attempt, an authorial joke that's certainly fun to do but shouldn't necessarily be published. But no, I didn't give it a decent chance, but I've still got 20-30 books on the "in-the-middle'-of" shelf. Let someone else have a chance at this when I drop it off.
Not so much a story as a process. It's kind of like watching the evolution and flowering of language. The author only allows himself to use words beginning with "A" in the first chapter, "A" and "B" in the second chapter, and so on until he has the full alphabet at his discretion, and then he starts working backwards, subtracting a letter each chapter until he ends with "A." Watch Abish find freedom through constraint.
Entertaining. At times funny. Self-referential. Not a memorable story, but the technique becomes part of the story itself and that gives it substance.
I had been showed the book as one that was supposed to be difficult to read. I do not think it is. The reader needs to be patient and take it in, as with most books.
I had been showed the book as one that was supposed to be difficult to read. I do not think it is. The reader needs to be patient and take it in, as with most books.
If you enjoy books for their writing process, this constricted style might be of interest. Otherwise, skip it.
Dec 14, 2011
Goge (BARRONS) le Moning Maniac,
marked it as to-read
I'd forgotten I'd heard of this book before. And now? I want to read it. Yes, PLEASE!! X)
Nov 13, 2012
MJ Nicholls
marked it as books-found-in-books
Found in Steven Moore’s The Novel: An Alternative History: Beginnings to 1600.
Calling this word experiment a novel seems a bit dishonest to me.
Nov 15, 2007
John Wiswell
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Literary readers, poetry readers, prose poetry readers, people who need something new
A great experiment in composition, Alphabetical Africa’s first chapter only uses words that begin with ‘a.’ One sentence might read, “An ant ascended all apexes,” though Abish’s sentences make a little more sense. The second chapter only uses ‘a’ and ‘b’ words; “An ant ascended because all ant brothers aspired .” Each successive chapter adds a letter, until the twenty-sixth can use any word at all. Then he descends, removing one letter at a time, so that the last chapter is composed only of ‘a’...more
As a big fan of "experimental" novels, I thought I would enjoy this more. It's an incredibly interesting concept, but doesn't really seem to come together as a novel. Unfortunate.
A complete hoot!
Years ago I wrote a paper on Alphabetical Africa that asserted, in part, that the "story" struggled to express itself through the alphabetical artifice, some evidence of which was to be found in the erroneous use of words beginning with disallowed letters. Someone who knew Abish mentioned this to him at a party, and he replied "You're kidding! My editor and I went over it again and again to make sure there weren't any errors!" So viva la story!
One for the grad students, but surprisingly good. The first chapter is sentences only containing words that begin with "A". The second is sentences only containing words that begin with "A" or "B". The third.... And so on until it's all the letters, and then Abish reverses himself.
Thesaurial splendor. (I know, I know, but your thesaurus is probably old!)
Although this was very clever, and surprisingly easily read once you add some B and C words, the tale was not the thing.
I’ve told everyone I know about the gag, but not about the storyline.
Although this was very clever, and surprisingly easily read once you add some B and C words, the tale was not the thing.
I’ve told everyone I know about the gag, but not about the storyline.
May 19, 2013
Jorge Gómez
marked it as to-read
May 18, 2013
Alex
marked it as to-read
May 14, 2013
Cj Dimaggio
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May 12, 2013
Amanda
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May 11, 2013
Serena
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May 05, 2013
Julia Beguería
marked it as to-read
May 01, 2013
Marissa
marked it as to-read
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Walter Abish is an American author of experimental novels and short stories.
At a young age, his family fled from the Nazis, traveling first to Italy and Nice before settling in Shanghai from 1940 to 1949. In 1949, they moved to Israel, where Abish served in the army and developed an interest in writing. He moved to the United States in 1957 and became an American citizen in 1960. Since 1975, Abish...more
More about Walter Abish...
At a young age, his family fled from the Nazis, traveling first to Italy and Nice before settling in Shanghai from 1940 to 1949. In 1949, they moved to Israel, where Abish served in the army and developed an interest in writing. He moved to the United States in 1957 and became an American citizen in 1960. Since 1975, Abish...more
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“Ages ago, Alex, Allen and Alva arrived at Antibes, and Alva allowing all, allowing anyone, against Alex's admonition, against Allen's angry assertion: another African amusement... anyhow, as all argued, an awesome African army assembled and arduously advanced against an African anthill, assiduously annihilating ant after ant, and afterward, Alex astonishingly accuses Albert as also accepting Africa's antipodal ant annexation.”
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Jan 29, 2013 10:21pm
Thanks!
Jan 31, 2013 03:53pm